Internal documents reviewed by Reuters reveal that Meta projected earning around 10% of its 2024 revenue ($16 billion) from ads promoting scams and banned goods, with users seeing up to 15 billion scam ads per day across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Meta’s systems often allow suspicious advertisers to continue running ads unless there’s 95% certainty of fraud — and in some cases, the company charges higher ad rates to suspected scammers instead of banning them.
Despite claiming to have reduced scam reports by 58% and removed 134 million scam ads in 2025, internal records show Meta still profits heavily from fraudulent advertising. The company expects up to $1 billion in regulatory fines, far less than its scam-ad income, and aims to gradually reduce illicit ad revenue from 10% in 2024 to 6% by 2026.
Regulators in the U.S. and U.K. are investigating Meta’s role in online fraud, as internal reviews suggest its platforms are involved in one-third of all successful scams in the U.S., and that it’s easier to advertise scams on Meta than on Google.
Source: Reuters
